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Iran vs Israel War | Does Iran REALLY Have Nukes? | Dhruv Rathee

Dhruv Rathee21:28

Transcription

First, I stopped the India-Pakistan war, now I've stopped the Iran-Israel war. Give me the Nobel Prize. I'm not kidding. Actually, Trump mentioned the Nobel Prize six times in his posts. The war between Iran and Israel, which lasted 12 days, was perhaps the strangest war. The leaders of all three countries that fought the war have declared themselves victorious after the war ended. Just 10 days before attacking Iran, the cross-examination of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's corruption trials began. In court, he literally said, "I don't remember," 10,778 times. A former IDF general has directly accused Netanyahu of deliberately continuing the Gaza war so that he can save himself from going to jail.

Hello friends, on June 13, 2025, around 3:00 AM, over 200 Israeli fighter jets entered Iranian airspace. Their targets were more than 100 nuclear, military, and infrastructure targets, which they attacked in a coordinated manner. In all this, about 80 people were killed and 320 were injured, most of whom were innocent civilians. But among them were also some high-profile individuals who were assassinated. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri. The Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, Hossein Salami. People associated with Iran's nuclear program were specifically targeted. Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi and six scientists, including Fereydoun Abbasi, were also killed. Israel named this entire operation "Operation Rising Lion." The strikes are part of Operation Rising Lion. Operation Rising Lion. Operation Rising Lion.

The strange thing in this whole matter was that there was no provocation from Iran's side. Yes, it is true that the relations between these two countries have been bad for a long time. Last year, there was also a conflict between these two countries. But in this specific case, Iran had not attacked. Israel just suddenly woke up one day and started dropping bombs. When Israel was asked why they did this, the Israeli Prime Minister replied, "For self-defense. We have reason like lions to defend ourselves." What kind of self-defense is this where you first attack someone else? They said they suspected that Iran was very close to producing nuclear weapons. Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year, it could be within a few months, less than a year.

Actually, on May 31, 2025, a confidential report from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, was leaked. It stated that Iran had about 400 kg of 60% enriched uranium, which could be used to build 10 nuclear weapons. This means that nuclear weapons have not been built yet, but they can be built, and for this reason, America and Israel have been after Iran. There are two very interesting things here. First, Donald Trump's cancellation of the old nuclear deal with Iran, and second, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial in his own country. We will talk about these further, but first, let's understand exactly what happened in this 12-day war, and then how a ceasefire was observed afterward.

On the night of June 13, Iran retaliated by attacking Israel with dozens of missiles and drones. Most of these strikes were intercepted, but explosions were seen in some places in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. After this, for the next few days, Iran and Israel continued to attack each other. There was destruction on both sides. Innocent lives were lost on both sides. Meanwhile, Donald Trump demanded unconditional surrender from Iran and said that Iran cannot be allowed to build nuclear weapons. Iran have nuclear weapons. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also threatened. It was said that America knows where he is hiding, but they will not kill him yet. On the other hand, Khamenei replied that Iran will not surrender to anyone under any circumstances. The war between Iran and Israel continued. So far, America had not been directly involved in this war, but on June 19, another threat came from Donald Trump. Trump said he was giving Iran two weeks to make a nuclear deal. If they did not comply, America itself would start military strikes.

Two weeks was a long time, friends, because just two days later, on the night of June 21, about 125 American planes entered Iranian airspace. Their targets were Iran's three main nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. But destroying them was not so easy because they are located very deep underground, in mountains hundreds of meters deep. Fordow is a uranium enrichment site. Similarly, a part of Natanz, Iran's largest enrichment facility, is also underground. It was not possible to damage them with traditional bombs and missiles. Therefore, they were targeted with bunker-buster bombs. America's bunker-buster bomb, officially named GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, weighs over 13,000 kg and is over 6 meters long. When detonated, it can penetrate more than 60 meters into the ground. To deploy these, America used the B-2 stealth bomber aircraft. This aircraft looks exactly like a plane from a science fiction movie, but several bunker-buster bombs can be dropped through it, targeting a specific location, with the aim of hitting the same spot again to penetrate deeper into the ground. In this attack on June 21, America dropped more than 14 GBU-57 bombs on Iran. This specific type, the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, is considered the most powerful bunker-buster bomb. America had not used this type of bomb in any conflict before. These B-2 bomber aircraft took off from an airport in Missouri, flew for 37 hours non-stop, covering half the globe, to complete this mission. On the other hand, Iran's Isfahan nuclear site was targeted by a Tomahawk missile launched from a submarine, because this nuclear site was even deeper underground than Fordow, and even bunker-buster bombs could not damage it. After this attack, Donald Trump, in his televised address, declared this mission a complete success. "I can report a spectacular military success." He claimed that Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities had been completely destroyed. "Nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally."

Up to this point, everyone thought that this fight was going to be long, and this war might not stop until there was a regime change in Iran. On June 23, Iran retaliated with an attack. The Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which is America's largest military base in the Middle East and serves as the forward headquarters for US Central Command, was targeted. This is the military base that played a central role in America's operations in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. In this attack on June 23, 19 missiles were fired by Iran at this base, but only one hit the airbase. However, even this one missile did not cause much damage. But because of this, all flight operations over the entire Middle East were halted. Commercial airspace was completely closed for about 8 to 10 hours over Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE. The situation had become very extreme. Many people thought this might be the beginning of World War III. But then, the next day, this war suddenly ended. Donald Trump announced a complete and total ceasefire between Iran and Israel. "President Donald Trump announces a complete and total ceasefire."

Everyone has the same question: what happened here? The war suddenly started, and then suddenly there was a ceasefire. The war ended. Many questions arise here. But an indication of the ceasefire was seen in Iran's retaliation on June 23 itself. In fact, before attacking the American airbase, Iran had already given an advanced warning to Qatar and America. Because of that advanced warning, America had moved most of its airplanes from that airbase, which is why there was no damage in this attack on June 23. Geopolitical experts believe that Iran actually did not want a fight here. But since Israel attacked Iran first, Iran definitely wanted to show its public that they retaliated, that they gave a fitting reply. Although there was no impact from that attack, it was enough to convince their national public. Because within Iran, Iran's Supreme Leader says that they have won this war, their nuclear sites have suffered negligible damage, and if there is any attempt to attack their country again, they will always receive a fitting reply. "Any aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran will have a dear cost, a big and high price."

On the other hand, Trump also made himself a hero here. He said, "See how I stopped the war. See how expert I am. I am skilled at stopping wars. But I will be your peacemaker, and I am the only candidate who can make this promise to you. I will prevent World War III. But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. I stopped the war between two major nations, major nuclear nations." First, I stopped the India-Pakistan war. Now, I've stopped the Iran-Israel war. Give me the Nobel Prize. I'm not kidding. Actually, Trump mentioned the Nobel Prize six times in his posts, sarcastically writing that even after this, he would not be given the Nobel Prize. "They gave to Obama immediately after he had no idea he got." And on the other hand, the story is the same for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also made himself a hero. He went before his public in Israel and said, "See, we won the war. Our mission was successful. We destroyed all the nuclear sites there. A country that wanted to destroy us, we gave them a fitting reply." According to a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute, 70% of Israelis supported attacking Iran. And the interesting thing is that Benjamin Netanyahu is facing trials in three different corruption cases in Israel. But these trials have been repeatedly delayed because sometimes there is a war in Gaza, or sometimes there is a war in Lebanon. Just 10 days before attacking Iran, on June 3, Netanyahu's cross-examination began in these corruption trials. The court asked him numerous questions regarding corruption allegations. In most of them, his answer was, "I don't remember." "I don't remember." He used the phrase "I don't remember" literally 10,778 times in court. Just imagine what a brilliant answer that is: someone asks you in court, "Did you take a bribe while making that deal?" And you say, "I don't remember. We don't know." "Was there corruption in your department?" "I don't remember. We don't know anything." And in this way, you keep saying "I don't remember" 1800 times.

Netanyahu's support among the Israeli public was rapidly declining. According to a survey conducted last month by Israel's Channel 12 News, about 55% of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is continuing the Gaza war solely because he wants to remain in power. Other surveys have also indicated that more than 60% of Israelis favor ending the Gaza war, if a deal for the release of hostages is reached. Look at this opinion article written in The Times of Israel on June 3. The title reads, "Netanyahu's Calculation: The War Must Go On." In December 2024, a bill was passed in the Israeli parliament according to which any member of parliament has near-total criminal immunity as long as they remain in office. Former IDF General Yisrael Ziv has also accused Netanyahu of deliberately continuing the Gaza war so that he can avoid going to jail. In such a situation, the question naturally arises: was Iran also attacked so that the Prime Minister could save himself from going to jail and delay the corruption trial against him? If you need more evidence of this, look at this news from June 26. Donald Trump tells Israel to dismiss the corruption trial against Netanyahu. According to him, there is a witch hunt against Netanyahu. And in response, Netanyahu also thanks Trump, saying, "Thank you, sir, for talking about ending the corruption trial against me, for talking about saving me." So, this shows, friends, that at least two countries involved in this 12-day war had no interest in continuing this war. Trump's number one priority here was to make himself a hero and get himself the Nobel Prize. Therefore, Trump first spoke to Netanyahu and got Israel ready for a ceasefire. Qatar's help was sought to get Iran to agree, and Iran sent a message to America through Qatar that they would not attack the US anymore. In response, America also agreed not to attack any base, after which Iran also agreed to a ceasefire. Although it is another matter that even a few hours after the ceasefire was declared, firing was seen from both sides so that both countries could show their public that they were the ones who gave the final response. Iran fired two ballistic missiles at Israel. In response, Israel struck Iran and destroyed a radar station near Tehran. After this, Trump became a bit angry. He expressed his anger against Israel. "Israel, soon we'll deal them like they've never seen before. I am not happy, okay? Hours out, I'm not happy." But then, after talking on the phone with Netanyahu, he again announced that Israeli jets would return waving friendly to Iran, and after this, the ceasefire continued peacefully.

Now, the question here is also: how much damage was actually done to Iran's nuclear program? The actual reason given for going to war. Trump says that Iran's nuclear program has been completely destroyed. "You look at the before and after pictures, everything burned black. I believe total. I believe they did not have a chance to get anything after reacting." But the initial assessment of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency is that only the structures above ground of the three nuclear sites were significantly damaged. In fact, all these bombs and missiles dropped could not completely destroy the centrifuges and highly enriched uranium. "Three sources, according to an early US intelligence assessment, US military strikes on three nuclear facilities last weekend destroyed the core components of the country's nuclear program." According to this agency, the enriched uranium had already been removed from these nuclear sites before the American attacks, and this entire 12-day war has only delayed Iran's nuclear program by a few months.

Now, the question here is also: if Iran was indeed building a nuclear weapon here, will it stop building its nuclear weapons after this 12-day war, or will it try even harder to build nuclear weapons? Because from Iran's perspective, what they have seen here is that any country can attack their country if they suspect that they are building nuclear weapons. But if they actually have nuclear weapons, no one will dare to attack. The best example of this is North Korea, which has its own nuclear bomb, and it is believed that this is the reason why America has not attacked North Korea yet. According to the Arms Control Association in Washington, there is a risk that military strikes will further strengthen Iran's resolve to build nuclear weapons. However, Iran's official stance so far is that its nuclear program is for civilian and peaceful purposes. Its Supreme Leader Khamenei issued a fatwa in 2003 to suspend the nuclear weapons program, and officially, this suspension has not been lifted yet. In March 2025, America's Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, testified before the US Congress, stating that Iran is not building nuclear weapons. "The IC continues to assess Iran has not suspended in 2003." But as soon as Israel attacked Iran, she made a big U-turn and said that Iran is actually building nuclear weapons and could have a nuclear weapon within a few weeks. The Director-General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, has also refuted these claims that Iran is very close to building nuclear weapons. "We did not find in Iran elements to indicate that there is an active systematic plan to build a nuclear weapon." The report I mentioned at the beginning of the video, based on which Israel launched an attack on Iran, did not contain anything that was not already known. Something similar happened in 2003 when America invaded Iraq. America and its allies said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that they were building a nuclear bomb. American newspapers and the intelligence community confirmed those claims, and based on this, Iraq was attacked. But after searching extensively, no evidence of any kind of nuclear weapons was ever found in Iraq.

There is a very simple solution to this entire situation, friends. If Iran is to be stopped from building nuclear weapons, then America can enter into a nuclear deal with Iran. I am not saying this out of my own imagination; when Obama was President of America in 2015, he did exactly this with Iran: a nuclear deal. "Today, the United States, together with our allies and partners, has reached a historic understanding which, if implemented, will prevent a nuclear weapon." According to this deal, the condition was that Iran would not enrich uranium beyond 3.67%. Doing so would make it impossible to build nuclear weapons. Plus, for verification, the International Atomic Energy Agency would be allowed to inspect their nuclear facilities inside Iran. And in return, what did Iran get? The sanctions imposed on Iran by America, the European Union, and the United Nations would be lifted, and normal trade would continue with Iran. It was a very good deal. Both sides benefited here. There was no threat from Iran. Iran was also following this deal well until 2018. But then what happens in 2018? Donald Trump had already become President of America. Trump went and canceled this nuclear deal. "The Iran deal is defective at its core. The United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal." Why did he cancel it? Trump did not provide any proper reasoning here. Just the same old talk about it being a bad deal, and he was canceling it. Look at the BBC article; what is the first reason given for canceling it? "Shredding the Obama legacy." Meaning, Trump was jealous of Obama and just wanted to do the opposite of what Obama had done. This deal was canceled just for that reason. And what is the result of canceling it? Sanctions are reimposed on Iran. The permission that the International Atomic Energy Agency had to visit Iran's nuclear facilities is no longer with them, and Iran starts concentrating its enriched uranium again. After a few years, gradually, Iran becomes the world's only non-nuclear country with 60% enriched uranium accumulated. And then this enriched uranium is used as an excuse to attack Iran. Meaning, in reality, this was Donald Trump's own mistake, due to which this war started, and then he takes credit for getting it a ceasefire. "And by the way, who knew the other side of the picture better than me? I know it."

This simple solution to the problem still exists today. Even today, America can enter into a new nuclear deal with Iran with similar conditions. But the question is, will Trump do this here? Finding such a diplomatic solution would actually be in Trump's favor. Because Trump's own supporters are angry that he sent his bombers into the Iran war. Throughout his election campaign, Trump's slogan was "America First," meaning not to involve America in any war. But by doing so, Trump had angered his own supporters. Trump's staunch supporter and former journalist Tucker Carlson has also said that Trump is breaking his promise of not getting involved in any new wars.

Now, if you want to understand the reality and depth of Benjamin Netanyahu's character, I would recommend this video. Two years ago, when Israel saw the biggest protests in the country, protests that could have overthrown the government and sent Netanyahu to jail, but after this, Netanyahu started the war in Gaza. You can watch it by clicking here. Thank you very much.